Connor swallowed, his heart hurting for Max. He could see how upset he was by that thought.
Every kid deserved to be a kid. Zoe obviously wasn’t getting that chance.
“I’d do anything to speed that up,” Max said. “And this option doesn’t involve robbing a bank, so… will you marry me, or not?”
Connor glanced at Max, then at the picture of Zoe, then back at Max again. The sincerity in his eyes hit Connor like a blow to the chest.
How could he say no? Wasn’t it at least worth a shot?
Besides, he could go back to his life if he won. He could get his career back on its feet, pick up where he left off and call this nothing more than a long vacation.
He wanted more than anything to pick himself up and dust himself off as though nothing had ever happened.
It was a good deal for both of them.
“Okay,” Connor agreed. “I’ll do it.”
He’d wanted a chance to prove himself, a chance to move his career out from under the shadow of his biggest failure, and Max was handing it to him. Kind, sweet Max, who was putting his sister first and willing to go for a long shot to help her.
Max got more attractive every time Connor talked to him. Wanting to help his little sister out was, as motivations went, the purest Connor could think of.
Max’s whole face broke into a grin. He rounded the counter in three strides, wrapping Connor in a warm, strong hug. The biceps were definitely not just for show. Connor got the feeling Max could have lifted him clean over his head if he wanted to.
“Thank you,” Max murmured, breaking off and giving Connor a chance to breathe. “Seriously, thank you.”
“We haven’t won yet,” Connor said. He didn’t want to get Max’s hopes up too much. He knew he was good, but… other people were better. He was banking on none of them entering.
“It means a lot that you’re willing to try,” Max said sincerely, his voice low and soft. The faintest hint of tears made his eyes shine as he looked down at Connor.
Connor swallowed again. He had plenty of motivation to start with, but now he had more than he could ever have asked for.
This was going to be the best micro-budget wedding anyone had ever seen. Fairy lights and fake flowers everywhere. Detail upon detail upon detail, all lovingly hand-crafted.
It wasn’t as though he had anything better to do right now.
“I’ll download an entry form and we can fill it out when your shift ends,” Connor said. “And for the record, it means a lot that you have this much faith in me.”
“Faith is all I have left. I’m choosing to put it in someone who might actually be able to help,” Max said. “Everyone’s been awesome, but you… you could fix this for me.”
Connor’s heart clenched.
Few people ever had any faith in him, and never like this.
He’d win this thing for Max if it killed him.
Chapter Six
Max sighed happily as he sat down next to Connor, sinking deep into the plush armchair the other man had saved for him.
“Shift finished?” Connor asked, looking up from his laptop.
“Not quite,” Max confessed. “I’ll have to get up if there’s a customer, but… it’s usually quiet around this time, so I figured we could at least get started.”
“Absolutely,” Connor said, scooting his chair over a little and turning his laptop so Max could see the screen. “The entry form is basic enough. First things first, they want a picture of the two of us. How are you at selfies?”
“Awful,” Max said, laughing at the thought. More often than not, he ended up dropping his phone, or blinking, or taking a weird angle that made him look nothing like himself.
“Okay, well, I’ll take my average over your awful,” Connor said, taking out his phone. “Smile for me.”
Max followed the order, holding still as Connor moved to sit on the armchair beside him, their bodies brushing together as he positioned himself.
“Can I kiss your cheek?” Connor asked. “It’d be cute.”
Max wet his lips.
He’d promised himself he’d do whatever it took to win, and he’d survive a kiss on the cheek.
“Go for it,” he said, tilting his head to give Connor easier access.
Connor leaned in, and Max caught the bright scent of citrus coming off him—orange, maybe, or mandarin. Something sweet, but still sharp enough to be masculine, and with a herbal note under it.
It was nice. Comforting, in a way Max hadn’t expected.
He’d have to ask Connor what it was.
“There,” Connor said, turning the phone to Max so he could see the photo. “Happy?”
Max stared at the photo for a few moments. It was weird to see himself being kissed like that, but he didn’t hate it. They looked happy. They looked like they could be in love, which was the main thing.
“Works for me if it works for you.” Max shrugged.
“I think it’s a good photo,” Connor said. “It looks… natural. Which I think will work in our favor.”
“Okay,” Max said, watching Connor send the photo to his laptop. “What’s next?”
“They wanna know how we met,” Connor said. “Thoughts?”
“Uh…” Max looked at the question on the screen, unsure what to say. “I don’t really know how gay guys meet, so…”
Connor turned to look at him. “You’re not gay?”
Max shook his head. “No. I mean, I’m guessing you are because you didn’t even bat an eyelid when I suggested this, but… I’m not. Is that… okay?”
Connor smiled wryly. “I never expected to be asked if it was okay to be straight,” he said. “But yeah, of course it’s okay. This is all make-believe. But it’s twice as sweet now that you’re doing this for your sister.”
“It is?” Max asked.
Connor nodded. “Yeah, I mean… a lot of straight guys wouldn’t even consider pretending to be gay for anything, and you didn’t even hesitate. I’m impressed.”
“Oh.” Max looked down at his lap, not sure what to think of that. “I just… she’s my sister. I’d do anything for her. There’s nothing wrong with being gay, so… why shouldn’t I let people think I am?”
“And now I’m positive unicorns are real, and I’m looking at one,” Connor teased. “You’re one of a kind.”
Max blushed, shifting in his chair. It was nice to be complimented, but he wasn’t really good at taking them. “So maybe we met… here? I mean, since it’s true and all…”
Connor smiled at that. “Probably a good idea. I was new in town. You were sweet and kind to me, and you were making my coffee, so it was pretty much impossible not to fall in love with you.”
Max chuckled. “I can imagine that, yeah. You’d have to have some reason.”
“Okay, so, let me make up a little work of fiction here,” Connor said, tapping away on the keyboard. “We met here, I slowly fell in love with you over cups of coffee, when I finally got up the courage to say something it turned out you felt the same way…”
“Sounds like a romance novel,” Max said. “Not, uh… I mean, my mom reads them, I…”
“You should know I read them,” Connor said. “Before you continue.”
“I wasn’t gonna say anything bad,” Max responded, hoping Connor believed that.
“I actually don’t care what anyone thinks,” Connor said, but it wasn’t harsh. It sounded to Max like he really didn’t care. “But you’re right, and that’s the idea. We’re trying to win this, but we’ve gotta get picked first. The cuter our story sounds, the better.”
“We should add a dog,” Max said. “You know, that brought us together.”
Connor laughed. “I think you read romance novels.”
Max cleared his throat. “Maybe one or two. They were lying around and I like that nothing bad happens in them. Nothing that doesn’t get solved, anyway.”
“Me too,” Connor agreed. “So next question, what do we like most about each other?�
��
Max blinked at Connor. He had no idea what to say. He could see that Connor had good qualities—he was obviously smart, and determined, and he clearly took care of himself and dressed well. He wasn’t hard to look at either, and his smile made Max want to smile back.
That was… probably the kind of answer Max was meant to give, but all he could think of was that he liked Connor because Connor was nice to him.
He liked a lot of people for that reason, but this seemed a little different in a way he couldn’t pinpoint.
“I’ll go first,” Connor said. “I like… well, obviously, your compassion. Your incredible sweetness. You have a really pretty smile. I like the sense that you don’t care what other people think, but you’re still good to everyone you meet. I like your warmth. I hypothetically like snuggling up next to you, I bet you give amazing cuddles.”
Max blushed all the way down to his collar at that.
“Uh… thank you?”
It was nice to hear nice things about himself, even if Connor didn’t really know him.
“You don’t need to thank me for telling what I strongly suspect to be the truth,” Connor said.
“Well… I like your kindness. Your willingness to help other people out. And I think you’re probably exactly what guys look for in other guys?”
Connor frowned at that. “How so?”
“You’re… handsome?” Max tried, unsure if that sounded like the compliment it was meant to be. “And you always seem like you’ve got your look together. I dunno. Not gay, remember?”
“I’ll make some stuff up,” Connor said. “But I’m never forgetting that you think I’m handsome.”
“No, wait,” Max said. “I think you’re smart, and I think you’ve worked really hard pretty much all your life, and I like that you seem to have some sense of style. I know you’re way out of my league, but I appreciate that you’re okay with pretending you’re not.”
Connor laughed at that. “Oh, honey, I’m not even close to being out of your league,” he murmured, focusing on typing in the answer to the question.
Max wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but he intended to take it as a compliment.
“I thought we might go for a Something Blue theme. Because of your hair, and because it’d be cute. It’s the kind of thing the judges would love,” Connor said, changing the subject before Max had a chance to ask what he meant.
“That part’s up to you,” Max said. “I’m not even gonna pretend I know anything about weddings.”
“As long as you show up,” Connor responded, still filling out questions. They seemed shorter this time, like names and addresses, so Max was happy to let him.
“What’s your surname?” Connor asked halfway through.
“Evans,” he responded.
“I was kinda hoping it’d be, like… Power, or something.”
Max chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“I’m pretty happy to marry someone with a nice, sensible name like Max Evans.” Connor shrugged. “I’m gonna send this all to my address, if that works for you?”
“I think that’s the best idea,” Max said. “I don’t wanna get Zoe’s hopes up, so I’d like to keep this quiet.”
“I understand,” Connor said. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
Max nodded, relieved that he and Connor were on the same page here. Besides, this was only an application. They hadn’t even gotten into the competition yet, let alone won it.
“Well… that’s all the questions,” Connor said, sitting back. “All that’s left now is to send it off. Are you sure about this?”
Max took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
He couldn’t get the image of Zoe with tears staining her face out of his head. If there was even a hope in hell that doing this could fix that… he had to give it a shot. He couldn’t have lived with himself if he’d passed up the chance.
“I’m sure,” Max said. “But are you sure?”
Connor nodded eagerly. Max hadn’t ever seen him this excited before, though that wasn’t saying much.
“I’m sure,” he said. “Winning this would mean I could have my career back. My life back. I could move back to the big city, climb the celebrity wedding ladder, maybe plan a royal wedding someday, even.”
Max raised an eyebrow. “Got a particular royal family in mind?”
Connor shrugged. “I don’t really care. Maybe a small European country that no one even realized still had a monarchy.”
Max chuckled. “So this is definitely gonna benefit you, right?”
“Right, yeah. Even just the exposure might help. And then I can move on from this place, cute as it is.”
“Okay,” Max said. “Send it.”
Connor grinned, turning his laptop back toward Max before hitting the big red button marked Enter.
The page reloaded, and Thank you for your entry! came up on the screen.
Max sat back, breathing a sigh of relief. “Now we wait?” he asked.
“Now we wait,” Connor confirmed.
Chapter Seven
Connor panted for breath as he reached the bookstore, pausing outside for a moment to pull himself together.
He looked down at the letter in his hand, heart pounding, lungs ready to burst, and smiled.
Max would be so excited.
Once he more or less had his breathing under control, Connor went inside and stood behind another customer in line. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, unable to force himself to stay still. He was too excited to stay in one spot for long.
The woman in front of him seemed to take hours to order her coffee, but once she had it in her hand and was walking away, Connor stepped forward, grinning broadly at Max.
“Just a coffee, right?” Max said.
Connor shook his head, and then handed the envelope over.
He watched Max read the front of it—their names, and the return address—and gripped the edge of the counter when Max’s eyes widened.
“Is this…?” Max looked up at him.
Connor bit his lip to stop himself from squealing with excitement, nodding eagerly.
Max took the letter out of the open envelope in trembling hands. Connor watched his eyes move back and forth as he skimmed the letter, widening as he got to the good part.
“We got in,” he said softly, looking up at Connor. “Right? This isn’t, like… a joke, or…?”
“This is real,” Connor confirmed. “We got in.”
Max put the letter down and moved around the counter at lightning speed, wrapping his arms around Connor before he knew what was happening.
Then, Max lifted him clean off the floor, twirled him around, and finally put him down.
Connor had suspected Max would have no trouble lifting him, and now he knew that was true.
“We got in,” Max said.
The room was still spinning a little for Connor, but he couldn’t help grinning at that. Max sounded so happy.
It was nice to see him happy.
Despite knowing now that Max was straight, his hopeless crush hadn’t gone anywhere. If anything, it’d gotten worse to spite him.
He couldn’t afford to let Max know that he had a thing for him—especially now, when they had a chance to change both their lives and Connor couldn’t afford to screw his up again—but it didn’t look like he was about to get over it anytime soon.
That was fine. It made it fun to hang out with him, and they’d be seeing a lot of each other over the next few weeks.
“Thank you,” Max said a moment later, his voice low. “This… this means the world to me. That you’re willing to try.”
“You’ve said,” Connor reminded him.
“I’m not gonna stop saying,” Max responded. “I mean… if nothing else, you’ve given me hope. I just… I guess now that I know it’s really happening, I want you to know that it’s okay if we don’t win this. I’d like to, but the hope… the hope is good, too.”
Connor swallowed.<
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He’d been determined to win before, but now, he’d go to the ends of the Earth for it. Max needed this a thousand times more than he did.
The whole point of his career had been to make people happy doing what he loved. This was his chance to really make a difference, not just on one day, but for the rest of Max’s life. Max’s sister’s life. His whole family’s.
Connor hadn’t met Zoe, but if she was anything like her brother, the world needed more people like her. It would have been nice to do something really, truly worthwhile.
“So uh… you want that coffee?” Max asked.
Connor chuckled. “Well, I’ve got a wedding to plan, so yeah. I’d like two coffees, and two of whatever kind of pastry you want.”
Max blinked at him.
“One of them is for you,” Connor clarified.
“No, I… figured, but you don’t have to do that. You’ve done so much already and you’re about to do a whole lot more.”
“And I couldn’t do it without you,” Connor said.
That was true, but he also wanted Max to have the chance to enjoy this moment. If they didn’t win, this was the happiest he was going to be for a while.
“I… guess I could take ten minutes? I’m due a break, and we probably should celebrate a little.”
Connor beamed at him. “And I’d love some company with my coffee,” he said.
Max took two cups from the top of the machine, blushing. “I’ll bring it over. What kind of pastry do you want?”
“Surprise me,” Connor said, claiming the small, cozy table in the corner. He took out his laptop and tried to focus on setting up a file for this wedding, but he couldn’t stop himself from glancing up at Max from time to time.
He looked so happy, and he was stunning when he was happy. His whole body looked relaxed for once, his face looked softer and less tired.
He was always pretty, but happiness made him glow.
Connor finally focused on his laptop as he saw Max putting everything on a tray, not wanting to make it obvious that he’d been watching him.
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